Autumn 



preference pure and simple, namely, 

 whether the ' ' snake ' ' fence or the stone 

 wall affords the greater possibilities. Till 

 recently I had no doubt as to the aesthet- 

 ic superiority of the stone wall. It has 

 such infinite capacity for tumbling, for 

 taking on a coat of lichens and mosses, 

 — for wearing soft tints of time and 

 weather. When quite prostrate its ruin 

 is hidden so tenderly by blood-red tan- 

 gles of Virginia creeper, or silky plumes 

 of clematis, and by masses of soft ferns, 

 which nestle lovingly about its feet. In 

 the presence of the ideal stone wall, and 

 I know a hundred such, there seems no 

 room for indecision. 



Yet the crooked course of the ''snake " 

 fence is undeniably picturesque. Its 

 * ' zigzags ' ' offer singularly choice re- 

 treats for great clumps of purple-stalked, 

 red-stained, heavy-fruited poke-weed, for 

 groups of yellow-brown Osmunda ferns, 

 and for festoons of bitter-sweet, with 

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